Cycling 1:58:00 [3] 22.4 mi (11.4 mph) +363m
Unexpected adventure ride after my longest, hardest orienteering effort of the week…
My car broke down a little ways east of Coeur d’Alene. The check engine light had turned on when I stopped in Post Falls for gas, but I assumed it was the same thing that it was when it was on the week before, and that it wasn’t too terribly urgent. However, my car and steering wheel got shakier and shakier, eventually it sounded AWFUL, and the check engine light started blinking urgently at me. I pulled over immediately, and checked the one thing I was most worried about: oil. Nothing left. The dipstick was completely dry. Well, shoot!
A very kind man stopped to see if I needed anything, but he didn’t have any oil, and he had a meeting to get to, so he wasn’t able to give me a ride. I didn’t want to drive my car any further, so my options were to hitchhike or to pull out my mountain bike. Solo hitchhiking as a young woman isn’t something that I’m very comfortable with, so I opted for a long cruise on the mountain bike back to Coeur d’Alene to pick up some oil.
Google maps took me on a wild ride: 1 mile on the freeway, paved roads, gravel roads, private property (?), a short mountain bike trail (glad I had the mountain bike!), past some drag racing (well, more like they zoomed past me), and the Idaho part of the centennial trail. And then all of that back to the car after I found some oil! I was going pretty quickly, since the clouds looked ominous and I didn’t want to get rained on, and I really didn’t want to ride the last freeway stretch in the dark after sunset.
All in all, it turned out, and my car made it back to Bozeman in a semi-functional state. Freeway biking sucks, but I’m grateful didn’t have to do the whole ride on I-90. It could have been worse. My legs are thoroughly tired from this day!